Team China braced for do-or-die battle

The situation is stark but clear. Defeat will be the end of the world!

Team China has vowed to take the fight to the host as it adopts an all-or-nothing approach to maintain its tenuous chances of emerging from its group in a key World Cup qualifier against Indonesia in Jakarta.

At its most basic, this requires China to score more goals than its opponent at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Thursday night in its penultimate match in the Asian qualifiers' third stage. Therein lies the rub. The team has been noticeably goal-shy in its qualifiers.

For a team that has scored only six goals, the second fewest in Group C, from eight fixtures, it seems almost an impossible gamble to count on its hitherto blunt attack to deliver when it matters the most.

Team China's head coach Branko Ivankovic, however, is under no illusions as he fully understands that task ahead.

"Not four, but 10 attackers I would deploy if needed," Ivankovic told Indonesian website bolasport.com upon the team's arrival at Jakarta airport on Monday.

Ranked bottom in the six-team group sitting on six points, Team China has to beat the fourth-ranked Indonesia first on the road and then fifth-ranked Bahrain at home five days later to stay alive in the race to the 2026 FIFA tournament.

Only the top two in each group secure automatic qualification to the 2026 finals, and the third- and fourth-ranked sides advance to a fourth phase to vie for two remaining tickets to the expanded 48-entry tournament, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A defeat to Indonesia on Thursday will disqualify Team China outright from the race, leaving its final match against Bahrain an insignificant home embarrassment.

A draw with the southeast Asian side will leave Ivankovic's men on thin ice to theoretically survive. It's a situation suitable for boffins. They will have to beat the Gulf nation by a large enough score and hope that Indonesia losses to Japan also by a large margin. Goal difference, it has to be said, does not do any favors for Team China.

"We don't have any other choices, but to go all out for a win on the road. That's a clear goal for us," Ivankovic said through a translator during a training camp last week in Shanghai.

"It requires everyone on our team to do the utmost and play an attacking style of game. We have to be daring enough to charge forward, but we have to prepare reasonable tactics as well.

"I believe our players will bring their best, turning the pressure into a huge motivation facing such a do-or-die situation," said the 71-year-old, who took over the Chinese national team in March 2024.

China's starting center forward Zhang Yuning, who scored in the country's 2-1 home win against Indonesia in October, drew confidence from a solid training camp and the squad's prime physical condition.

"I think we've executed all the coach's tactics well in training. Now, we just need to improvise in the real match," said Zhang, who also scored the only goal in China's 1-0 win over Bahrain on the road in November.

"From the kickoff to the final minute, we have only one option — that is to attack. We've had our backs against the wall. A win is the only result that we could accept," said the 28-year-old striker from Chinese Super League club Beijing Guo'an.

Despite losing 2-0 to Australia in its last qualifier at home in March, Team China has discovered, perhaps, a new midfield attacking combo in Brazilian-born playmaker Serginho and prodigy winger Wang Yudong, who helped the host put up a gusty fight late in the second half, throwing quite a few punches back at the Socceroos, although failing to land a knockout blow.

Serginho, Team China's latest naturalized recruit, has scored three goals with two assists in 10 matches with Guo'an in the CSL, while Wang, an 18-year-old agile dribbler, has netted eight times in 12 starts with Zhejiang in China's top-flight league.

China will need them to carry their red-hot domestic form into the international arena against the equally desperate Indonesia, a team bolstered by Dutch-born naturalized talent that also aims for a win on Thursday to secure its survival ahead of its clash with continental leader Japan.

The Garuda squad, coached by Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert, will miss six key players due to injuries, yellow card suspensions and personal reasons in its roster against China, a report on Jakartaglobe.id claimed.

The absentees include the team's attacking midfielder Marselino Ferdinan, first-choice goalkeeper Maarten Paes and Dutch-born defender Sandy Walsh.

Still, Indonesia has depth in its roster for coach Kluivert to improvise and an intimidating and vocal home crowd at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, where only the mighty Samurai Blue have tasted victory so far with a 4-0 win in November, to lean on.

"It will only build on our resolve to fight for a win in a tough situation on the road," Team China's defending midfielder Wang Shangyuan said of Indonesia's home advantage.

"Definitely it will be a particularly difficult match. But we are prepared for all kinds of challenges," he said.